Welcome to Gaia! ::

She seemed satisfied by the answer she did receive from the other woman, the lack of an immediate flow of additional answers followed by a bout of silence as the appearance of three "suits" answered her other. Bright eyes followed their movement across the field another few pieces of popcorn for herself, idly crunching on kernels as she fell into observation mode. Out of the three the only one she had recognized was the one who'd spoken; the one who'd handed her a card that had lead her down a rabbit hole that had made the past several months far more interesting than they might have been otherwise. The others...

There was another slow crunching noise as she popped another kernal into her mouth, paying attention to those who were just wandering up. There was a blonde who looked like he was trying his best to avoid being percieved. She spotted him, however, wondering briefly what his story was but not enough to actually ask. She was, instead, more immediately distracted by the two arrivals that followed -- a talk drink of water with a wash of silver hair accompanied by someone who seemed to have the distinct misfortune of uniform styling as she'd been burdened by. She cast them an apologetic that was quickly buried by another kernal of popcorn being tossed into her mouth.

Holding the bag out to the other woman she glanced her way again. "Going to be an interesting night, to say the least... Wonder if the 'six or seven more' are newbies or if anyone's going to get busted for being late."

Leucite tended to keep his head on a swivel whenever he attended any sort of get together, and today he was rewarded by a strange tugging sensation of familiarity in his gut, when Stibnite's gaze directed him to some new comers. Specifically a blue haired male who tickled a part of his brain with a level of familiarity that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He'd have to take a moment and perhaps see if they had met in his time at the Foundation - it was rare of him to forget a face - but it did happen sometimes.

Granted, his gaze would almost invariably cycle back around to the teal haired woman and her conversation partner. While he recognized the first, the second was unfamiliar to him.

So when their leadership essentially made mingling and introductions a priority (that's what "Where applicable" meant right?) he took it as an opportunity to slowly approach the teal haired woman and her companion.

Okay - now just don't mess this up with your usual idiocy. He chided himself before giving both women a polite nod.

"Good evening," He said, keeping his voice low and conversational. "It's nice to see new faces around the Foundation, I don't believe we've formally met. Granted, I never really leave Antiquities much, I'm Leucite, and you two are?"

His eyes drifted between the two, waiting for names and proper introductions before he went any further. At least this time he wouldn't have to have someone bribe a bartender to get the teal woman's name... hopefully.

"Nagging feeling of deja-vous." She shook it off, nose wrinkling as she glanced in his direction again before bringing her hand up to rub at her face. Maybe there was something off with her contacts -- or maybe there were more people who looked alike in the city of Mayet than necessary. Either way she ignored it, instead looking to the man that had approached the two of them. She didn't miss the exchanged looks and was somehow willing to bet that Stibnite's answer to 'know him?' would be different.

Instead of asking that, though, she held her bag of white cheddar popcorn out to Leucite instead. "Tourmaline.... Popcorn?"

It amazed Stibnite how two words, two random words at that, seemed to change the entire air around them. Oh there was still tension, still that odd sense of familiar annoyance coming from her and his pompous self fighting with it but Tourmaline had made her relax just a smidge.

It allowed her to get away with a smile sound of affirmation as she crossed her arms in front of her when he mentioned he was glad to know she and others like her were out there.

It also allowed her eyes to wander past him and back to the other male giving off a familiar sense. It was nowhere near as strong as the one standing near her but far calmmer. She even offered the blue-haired man a nod of her head as she waited for the once talkitive Tourmaline to either answer or becoming oddly silent.

To be honest, only a few words just then was surprising.

After giving it another moment he turned to his comrades, noting that their fourth member still had not joined them, muttering that he was going to send one final message out to their comrade's communication device. "Please go ahead with handing out the crystals while I send this message. I really was hoping we could start on time..."

The lavender haired man nodded as he was adressed, shifting the bag at his hip before drawing out five crystals which he passed to the other man sporting the red tie before pulling another five out himself. Between the two of them they wandered 'round those gathered, interrupting conversations to pass out the newest piece of equipment that all soldiers would be assigned. Little was said in doing so, but each soldier would find that when the crystal touched their hand it would briefly hum, glowing gently before fading to whatever dull color it was originally.

Other than that odd insant glow, each crystal seemed mostly average. It was a simplistic wand-style, faceted crystal, tapered slightly at one end and pointed at each. It looked basic and unassuming and many a smart-alec might wonder if this evening adventure was just somehow going to lead to realigning chakras and purifying spaces. Those who had been working in the Research section of Special Operations would recognize them, however. They might even know a little bit about how the crystals worked -- enough to start using that initial glow to activate them and see whether or not they could detect any forms of energy nearby.

When the Boss with the purple tie paused it was in front of the young man staring curiously at his talisman -- someone from his own division. "Zinkenite, hold your talisman still and focus on what you feel. Pull that feeling towards you and suit up. We have work to do." He nodded before turning to head back to rejoin the other two Division Heads in waiting.

"We're going to continue shortly -- in the meantime, I would like to draw all of your attentions to the crystal that you've just received. We will be referring to that piece of equipment as a Divining Shard from here on out. It, like all of the other equipment you've received, will be an essential aide in your after-hours ventures with us. Tonight you'll be using them as part of a field test to ensure that you'll each be able to use them to find sources of Energy. We'll also be discussing why that's important and what we're hoping to achieve with this new tool." He was smiling brightly, enjoying the idea of finally making advancements in what they could do with more energy than what they'd been able to draw through their own stones. "If you'll just take a moment to focus on your shards and see whether or not you can channel just enough of your own energy into them to get them to glow again."



(( The next BIG update will come on MONDAY, November 1st at which point we will be splitting into groups for this Field Mission. ))

"Who, me?" Her brow quirked as she looked between the two for a moment while crunching on another bit of popcorn herself, quickly tucking the bag away when she noticed two of the brass start wandering around the few assembled in the field. "I'd like to consider myself a Jack of All Trades type when it comes to a number of situations," she said after they received their crystals, turning hers over slowly in her hand to see if she could figure out what the trick was that had gotten it to light up in the first place. It had to have some sort of button or something, right?

There's no magic button on the talisman that makes you change clothes....

Point.

Nose wrinkling she looked back to the man who'd asked about her specialties. "Intel. If you need to know anything about Mayet, I'm your gal. I know things." She grinned, looking over to the blue-haired young man that had joined them as well. "Hey. You mentioned the labs... Does that mean you know how to get this thing to work?" She held her crystal up, waving it around.

They rode the elevator up in relative silence, the aura of importance and sense of duty hovering around the green-haired man in the dark suit. He was typically in a better mood, but being in a room with seven communication devices when an alert came through was less than ideal. Incredibly less than ideal.

"First Floor - Lobby and Observation" The elevator chimed and he made a face, momentarily relieved that his back was to the other three and they wouldn't be able to see it. Whoever had decided to make elevators sound so chipper...

He drew in a deep breath, releasing it in a soft huff and stepping out as the doors opened. "This way." He lead the others out, rounding the stairs just as they no doubt had on their way in, each step purposeful as they moved at a steady but quick pace. "I'm sure the lot of you have questions -- you'll receive more answers out in the field once we've joined the others to be briefed on that missive that went out to your com devices. That alert only sounds if there's a matter of importance." Once they were outside he paused to turn to them, plucking the pendant from where it had settled on his chest. He held it out for emphasis before turning it in his hand, running his thumb over the gem.

"The talismans that you were given downstairs contain the key to unlocking the power you have inside of you. Hold them, focus on them, focus on that feeling you got the moment your fingers first touched it and pull that feeling towards you." As he spoke to them he closed his eyes, doing exactly as he had just told them to do as a demonstration. The energy came to him in a rush, the change in his attire instantaneous, black suit replaced by a green so dark it was nearly black beneath a long, dark jade coat that spoke of some sort of importance. "You may call me Nephrite... Suit up and follow me to join the others."